Vicky Phelan Taking A Break From Cervical Check Campaigning

Vicky Phelan has announced she's taking a break from campaigning on the Cervical Check scandal after today.

In a message posted on Twitter she said she was "deeply disturbed by the lack of empathy in some quarters" towards her and other women affected by the scandal.

She says she's faced criticism from some people for 'bringing down the cervical screening programme'.

The Taoiseach is due to meet Ms Phelan later, it's after Leo Varadkar was forced to row back on a promise that no woman caught up in the scandal would have to go to court.

The Taoiseach says he hopes the Limerick woman will give him advice on what still needs to happen: 'On trying to have a system of redressing compensation that avoids women having to take the stand in court, restoring confidence in our cervical cancer screening programme and to make sure that we get to the truth and the facts which we still don't have months later'.

I will be taking a break from Twitter and from all #CervicalCheckScandal campaigning after tomorrow, some of you will be glad to know. I am deeply disturbed by the lack of empathy in some quarters towards the women & families affected by the scandal.

I can only speak for myself here. For those of you who are condemning me for 'bringing down the cervical screening programme', I never missed a smear and NEVER had an abnormal smear until I was diagnosed in July 2014 with invasive cervical cancer

I found out THREE years later, in Sept 2017, that a smear from 2011, which was originally read as No Abnormality Detected' was, when audited, full of CANCER, not pre-cancerour CINI, II or III but Squamous Cell Carcinoma. P8 for the medical heads.

IF my smear in 2011 had been CORRECTLY read, I would only have had to have a hysterectomy and would have had a 90% chance of being cured. I will be fighting to stay alive for the rest of my life so forgive me if I am angry and upset and fighting for change.

I WANT a screening programme that I can trust. I have a daughter that I will be leaving behind. So get off your high horses and help me to change and to ensure that we have a screening programme that we CAN trust.